Eddins gets challenge for House

In House District 40, which encompasses Wake Forest, Rolesville and part of northern Raleigh, four-term incumbent Rick Eddins is opposed this November by Libertarian Scott Quint.

Eddins, who lives in Raleigh, owns Rolesville Furniture. He is endorsed by the Police Benevolent Association, the State Employees Association and the Retail Merchants Association.

Quint moved to North Carolina six years ago and is a computer software consultant.

Both men say they agree with this session's legislation that allows domestic violence victims to keep their addresses secret. "This is very important to avoid additional violence," Eddins said.

Both are suspicious about the lottery, but Eddins more so.

"After the governor took the city, county, volunteer fire and rescue squads' workers and other taxpayers' money, I have no reason to believe the governor would have used the lottery proceeds for education," Eddins said. "Therefore, I did not support it."

Quint said he had no opinion except that if a lottery was begun in the state, "any derivitive funds would be supplementary to the education budget, so the legislators and governor could not use it to usurp the normal education funds for other projects."

On balancing next year's state budget, Eddins said, "Wasteful spending must be stopped immediately and zero-based budgeting should be considered."

Quint outlined five steps, beginning with prioritize spending, audit all agencies, eliminate agencies or programs the state cannot afford, require mission statements and plans and hold agency heads accountable. "This simple plan will streamline the government operation and reduce costs. It is simple: do not spend more than you make."

Looking ahead to the next session, Eddins said his priority would be "to encourage economic recovery by promoting a business environment conducive to providing security and jobs to North Carolinians and reducing taxes." He would also work to balance the state's budget, eliminate wasteful government spending and further strengthen the state's public education system. "As legislative sessions are entirely too long, I voted for session limits."

"If spending is not brought under control," Quint said, "the (General) assembly will face all the same issues as it did this year and will be calling for higher taxes and more power to address them." He said many issues stem from government mismanagement. "The most important thing that the assembly can do is to curb the spending, eliminate pork and get more efficient and better organized."

(A Libertarian candidate for the seat in House District 41, Nathan Wilson, has not responded to calls for information.)